Dissatisfied with $28.8 billion in 2021 revenue, YouTube recently began looking for additional revenue-generating strategies. So far, we’ve seen canceled experiments such as adding up to 10 unskippable ads to videos at the start of the video and charging for 4K content. Now, a division of Google has announced a price increase for YouTube Premium family plans.
On iOS, all prices are higher if you sign up through the App Store, which charges a 30 percent fee on every transaction. In Apple territory, the YouTube Premium Family Plan has always been $22.99 and has now jumped to $29.99 per month. You can avoid Apple tax by simply paying Google directly through the YouTube website.
The new pricing will take effect on or after November 21, 2022 for people who had a $17.99 plan. Google also gives an option to users with outdated deals. If you have a subscription since full access to Google Play Music in 2015, you can continue to pay $14.99 for the YouTube Premium Family Plan. Google has told users that these deals end in April 2023 and everyone will have to pay the price of $22.99, which is a 53 percent increase.
The YouTube subreddit is filled with complaints about the unexpected change. YouTube posted a feedback form specifically about the change, where the company no doubt gets a lot of user feedback. Every YouTube support page has a price notice attached right now, as well as a message that YouTube is currently “experiencing a high volume of hits”. The support page on how to cancel a membership is here.